1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for managing storage devices, and, more particularly to systems and methods for managing storage devices, wherein smart card functions are integrated into a storage device, thereby allowing the storage device to provide secure data storage and the smart card can perform multi-application functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
With electronic devices, such as computers or portable devices, being popular, digital data has become a major data recording type for the devices due to increased convenience of digital data. Digital data is always embodied in a data carrier, such as a storage device. The data carrier may vary according to different requirements and applications.
One popular data carrier is a smart card. The smart card is a pocket-sized integrated circuit. The main components of the smart card include a microprocessor and a non-volatile memory, such as an EEPROM. The smart card can receive and process data, and store the processed data in the non-volatile memory of the smart card or output the processed data. The applications for smart cards may be a SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) card for mobile communication services, an ATM card for banking services, a health insurance card, an electronic wallet, and others.
A card reader must be employed to use the smart card. Generally, the card reader is connected to a computer via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface. When the smart card is coupled to the card reader, the card reader supplies power to the smart card, so that the smart card can perform operations, such as data input, receiving and processing information for ID authentication, data security management, and others.
Currently, portable devices, such as mobile phones are widely used. In some situations, the smart card is connected to a portable device, such as a mobile phone. In these cases, the portable device must be equipped with the USB interface. However, it is inconvenient for users to simultaneously carry a portable device and a card reader. Further, due to design and manufacturing limitations and cost considerations, the storage capacity of these types of smart cards is limited. The storage capacity of a smart card is normally less than 100 KB, thus hindering application thereof, in a wider range of electronic devices. Therefore, Secure Digital (SD) cards or micro SD cards with high storage capacity, which are widely applied in portable electronic devices, may be used to emulate the functions of smart cards, thereby increasing storage capacity and potential applications
Additionally, users must simultaneously carry multiple smart cards since no integration mechanism between smart cards is provided. The integration of smart cards is difficult due to the limited capacity of smart cards and the issue of independent security mechanisms must be controlled by different card organizations/issuers.